The Justice Department considered dismissing many more U.S. attorneys than officials have previously acknowledged, with at least 26 prosecutors suggested for termination between February 2005 and December 2006, according to sources familiar with documents withheld from the public. Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales testified last week that the effort was limited to eight U.S. attorneys fired since June, and other administration officials have said that only a few others...

Top aides to former Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales employed a political and ideological litmus test to weed out candidates for career and other positions at the Justice Department, an internal report concluded Monday. The audit by the department's Office of Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility concluded that former Gonzales aides Monica Goodling and Kyle Sampson violated department policies and federal civil-service laws. Both Goodling and Sampson left the...

Everybody loves Bob Barker ... And everybody respects Bob Barker ... "The Price is Right," though, that's a different story ... even within the world of game shows, there's a caste system. ... Somewhere in the great liked-but-not-respected middle are the daytime shows like "Price" made for people outside the 9-to-5 working world ... "Price" matters more than any quiz show because it's like life. It's random: you don't take a qualifying test but are picked from the crowd. It's social: studio-audience help...

Everybody loves Bob Barker ... And everybody respects Bob Barker ... "The Price is Right," though, that's a different story ... even within the world of game shows, there's a caste system. ... Somewhere in the great liked-but-not-respected middle are the daytime shows like "Price" made for people outside the 9-to-5 working world ... "Price" matters more than any quiz show because it's like life. It's random: you don't take a qualifying test but are picked from the crowd. It's social: studio-audience help...

"I don't care if we are ever here." -- An irked H. Lee Scott Jr., chief executive officer of Wal-Mart Inc., about the company's unsuccessful attempt to open a store in New York City "He tarnished our image worse than anyone else in the history of the department." -- Chicago Police Supt. Phil Cline, on Officer Anthony Abbate, involved in a videotaped beating of a bartender "I have decided to follow my lawyer's advice and respectfully invoke my constitutional right."

Former Justice Department official Monica Goodling admitted Wednesday that she "crossed a line" and took political factors into consideration when screening applicants for entry-level civil service legal jobs, but she denied playing a role in singling out U.S. attorneys for dismissal. Testifying under a grant of immunity, Goodling told the House Judiciary Committee that she considered political leanings when interviewing would-be prosecutors, who are supposed to be hired without regard for...

Republican support for Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales eroded Sunday as three key senators sharply questioned his truthfulness and a Democrat joined the list of lawmakers who want him to resign over the firing of eight federal prosecutors. "We have to have an attorney general who is candid and truthful. And if we find out he's not been candid and truthful, that's a very compelling reason for him not to stay on," said Sen. Arlen Specter, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which...

The Justice Department considered dismissing many more U.S. attorneys than officials have previously acknowledged, with at least 26 prosecutors suggested for termination between February 2005 and December 2006, according to sources familiar with documents withheld from the public. Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales testified last week that the effort was limited to eight U.S. attorneys fired since June, and other administration officials have said that only a few others...

Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales accepted responsibility Tuesday for mistakes in the way the Justice Department handled the dismissal of eight federal prosecutors, but he rejected calls for his resignation. At a Justice Department news conference, Gonzales said he would find out why Congress was not told sooner that the White House was involved in discussions of who would be fired and when. He did not, however, back away from his stance that the dismissals that did take place...

By David Johnston and Eric Lipton, New York Times News Service | April 14, 2007

A Justice Department e-mail message released on Friday shows that the former chief of staff to Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales proposed replacement candidates for U.S. attorneys nearly a year before they were fired in December 2006, contradicting repeated statements by department officials that no successors had been selected before the dismissals. The Jan. 9, 2006, message, written by Kyle Sampson, who resigned last month as the top aide to Gonzales, identified five Bush...

The House Judiciary Committee issued a broad subpoena Tuesday for new documents concerning the abrupt firing of eight U.S. attorneys, with Chairman John Conyers sternly warning Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales that time had run out for disagreements over how much material would be handed over. "We have been patient," said Conyers, but the Department of Justice has not shown "any meaningful willingness" to cooperate with the widening investigation by congressional Democrats. More than 3,400...

The House Judiciary Committee issued a broad subpoena Tuesday for new documents concerning the abrupt firing of eight U.S. attorneys, with Chairman John Conyers sternly warning Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales that time had run out for disagreements over how much material would be handed over. "We have been patient," said Conyers, but the Department of Justice has not shown "any meaningful willingness" to cooperate with the widening investigation by congressional Democrats. More than 3,400...

The House Judiciary Committee issued a broad subpoena Tuesday for new documents concerning the abrupt firing of eight U.S. attorneys, with Chairman John Conyers sternly warning Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales that time had run out for disagreements over how much material would be handed over. "We have been patient," said Conyers, but the Justice Department has not shown "any meaningful willingness" to cooperate with the widening investigation by congressional Democrats. More than 3,400...

The House Judiciary Committee issued a broad subpoena Tuesday for new documents concerning the abrupt firing of eight U.S. attorneys, with Chairman John Conyers sternly warning Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales that time had run out for disagreements over how much material would be handed over. "We have been patient," said Conyers, but the Justice Department has not shown "any meaningful willingness" to cooperate with the widening investigation by congressional Democrats. More than 3,400...

Top aides to former Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales employed a political and ideological litmus test to weed out candidates for career and other positions at the Justice Department, an internal report concluded Monday. The audit by the department's Office of Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility concluded that former Gonzales aides Monica Goodling and Kyle Sampson violated department policies and federal civil-service laws. Both Goodling and Sampson left the...

By Steve Chapman, a member of the Tribune's editorial board | April 1, 2007

A presidential pardon is entirely at the discretion of the president. The Constitution sets no bounds on his power to forgive crimes, no matter how heinous. But when Bill Clinton spared a tax fugitive whose former wife had given $1 million to Democratic causes, an avalanche of outrage landed on his head. Even staunch liberals like Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) called it "terrible" and "inexcusable." There are countless follies, presumptions and temptations that can lead a government employee to...

Contrary to his public statements, Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales was deeply involved in the firing of eight federal prosecutors, his former top aide said Thursday, adding that the final decision on who was to be dismissed was made by Gonzales and President Bush's former counsel. "I don't think the attorney general's statement that he was not involved in any discussions of U.S. attorney removals was accurate," Kyle Sampson, who quit this month as Gonzales' chief of staff, told the...

Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales' former chief of staff told a Senate hearing Thursday that he tried to get Chicago federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald fired in the midst of Fitzgerald's politically charged CIA leak case but immediately realized it was a bad idea. Kyle Sampson's startling revelation came on a long day of testimony, punctuated by frequent memory lapses, during which he also undermined the attorney general's assertion that he was only minimally involved in the...

By David Johnston and Eric Lipton, New York Times News Service | April 14, 2007

A Justice Department e-mail message released on Friday shows that the former chief of staff to Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales proposed replacement candidates for U.S. attorneys nearly a year before they were fired in December 2006, contradicting repeated statements by department officials that no successors had been selected before the dismissals. The Jan. 9, 2006, message, written by Kyle Sampson, who resigned last month as the top aide to Gonzales, identified five Bush...

Contrary to his public statements, Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales was deeply involved in the firing of eight federal prosecutors, his former top aide said Thursday, adding that the final decision on who was to be dismissed was made by Gonzales and President Bush's former counsel. "I don't think the attorney general's statement that he was not involved in any discussions of U.S. attorney removals was accurate," Kyle Sampson, who quit this month as Gonzales' chief of staff, told the...